Peru sells mineral
rights of Matsés lands to oil
company

Oil
drilling and oil spills could destroy Matsés culture

Unknown to most of the Matses people, who believe that
they have control over the land that they were given title to in 1998, the Peruvian
government's Peru Petro has sold the mineral rights of the Matses lands to
Pacific Stratus Energy. Recently, Pacific Stratus signed a
contract that gives them the right to explore
for oil within the Matses lands and drill oil wells. The
consequences of drilling for oil on the Matses lands could jeopardize the
survival of the Matses people who are primarily hunters and rely on their land
for all their food and resources. Furthermore, the con-sequences of oil
workers invading the Matsés lands and drilling for oil could set the stage for
confron-tations between oil companies and the Matsés people who have
historically defended their lands.

Click here to send a letter to Pacific StratusSend a letter to Pacific Stratus Energy
warning them of the high cost of their exploring for oil
and drilling oil wells within the Matses lands. The
reality is that the Matsés people have a strong history of
defending their territory, and any attempt by Pacific
Stratus Energy to explore for oil and drill oil wells will
be resisted by these indigenous Amazonians.
Therefore, in the interest of their shareholders, Pacific
Stratus Energy should reconsider the high security costs
and adverse publicity involved in developing and drilling
oil wells within the Matsés lands.

H

istorically, the Matsés people
have only had two ways of dealing with outsiders, killing them or integrating
them into their tribe. The Matses tribe has been defending their land
against outsiders for centuries and only relatively recently in 1969, finally
made peace with the outside world. The spectacle of uninvited oil workers
entering their territory and destroying their lands sets the stage for the
Matses to once again protect their land from invaders. Pacific Stratus
seems to be uninformed as to the history of the Matsés people and how they will
react to outsiders invading their territory.

Pacific Stratus Energy is a
scruffy Canadian firm, which
has a few small oil concessions in Colombia, and is losing money. Despite
record oil prices, Pacific Stratus managed to lose over 22 million
dollars in the first six months of 2007. With a
balance sheet in the red, it
is difficult to understand how Peru Petro qualified them to receive oil concessions
in Peru. Nonetheless Peru Petro, S.A., the Peruvian corporation created by
the Peruvian government to supervise oil exploration and development in Peru,
awarded blocks 135, 137, and 138 to Pacific Stratus instead of SK Corporation or
Reliance Industries Limited who also bidded on block 138.

The potential
environmental damage to the fragile Amazonian ecosystem could destroy the
traditional lifestyle of the Matses people who obtain all of their resources
from the Amazon Rainforest. Being primarily hunters, the Matsés people
rely on the forest for virtually all their food and material resources.
The destruction of the natural environment would destroy their traditional way
of life. The health consequences of the environmental pollution caused by
oil drilling could also be devasting to the Matses people. In other areas
of the Amazon where oil companies have drilled wells, the health of the local
people has been damaged by exposure to toxic oil by-products. Not
surprisingly, some indigenous Amazonian tribes have actually sued oil companies,
and the recent lawsuit against Occidental Petroleum by the Achuar people for
putting their health at risk and damaging their habitat and is an example.

In addition to the
environmental damage and health consequences, the social impact of oil companies on these
indigenous Amazonians could prove destructive. A case in point being the
invasion of the traditional territories of the Huaorani people in Ecuador by
"petroleros" (spanish for oil company employees). Many of the Huaorani
accepted jobs by the oil companies resulting in a loss of their cultural
traditions and rampant alcoholism. At present the Matses are still a very
traditional people, living without electricity and shun alcohol use. The
pollution of their material culture with western artifacts and alcohol could
destroy this unique traditional Amazonian culture.